Fixed Salary of a Pharmacist vs. Variable Salary of a Physician

[Lone Kendoka]

As the title suggests, this topic is about the somewhat fixed salary of a pharmacist and compares it to the variable salary of a physician. I've taken a look at the similar threads, so I'm not posting this uninformed. I just want to see other people's two cents on this specific matter.

According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, it says that the median annual wage of a pharmacist in 2008 was $106,410 and the middle 50% earned between $92,670 and $121,310 a year. Conversely, a physician's compensation varies by his/her type of practice. In 2008, physicians practicing primary care had total median annual compensation of $186,044, and physicians practicing in medical specialties earned a total median annual compensation of $339,738.

Now I only look to money in order to provide for the family. It seems that although pharmacists have flexibility in their job, the increase in salary they can earn from the base is not that much compared to that a physician can make, although a physician's variable wage can change with the recent health care reform. In other words, if a pharmacist wanted to step it up in their life, whether it be with a bigger house or more children, the amount they could be making may not necessarily accommodate the lifestyle change. The more kids one has, assuming that the wife would stay home to take care of the children, this would make the pharmacist the sole bread-winner of the family, meaning it would be harder to provide for the family with the restricted salary range.

On the other hand, while a physician may be able to provide better for a growing family or changing lifestyle through his/her higher salary, he/she would have to work for long stressful hours, barely being able to spend quality time with the family. To me, it's important to spend such time with the children because it is essential to how they grow up and is something that money cannot provide for. In today's society, it seems that physicians have to work longer hours and even have to take their work home to be able to make the same amount they were making before.

So what do you guys think about this? Also, with the new health care reform, where do you see the physician's fate headed in terms of salary, workload, and lifestyle with the family?

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[UNMorBUST]

They are not comparable.
Pharmacist= Salary or hourly.
Physician= Eat what you kill.
There is no point in comparing earnings when they dont earn money in the same fashion.

Edit:
You should not be looking at earnings when comparing careers. It all depends on what specialty a physician is in also. Some can work 80+hrs and make 150k. Others work 50 hrs and make 300k. The reason this various so much depends on how much a physician is reimbursed. Surgeons get reimbursed higher for a galbladder surgery then a FM doing a routine check up.
This is not so in Pharmacy. You are paid a salary or an hourly wage. This will not change unless you get a raise.

 

[SovietPistol]

If you live within your means, and are smart about it, you can support a family with a much, much lower salary than that of a pharmacist even. If you're just in it because you want a lot of money to buy a big house and have a huge family, then do something else. Not many people make that much, so how are so many people supporting families with only one member working?

Comparing a pharmacist to a physician is like comparing apples to twinkies. You can't just look at it in terms of salary.

 

[Passion4Sci]

What we have is this:

What we need is this:

A huge part of being a physician that you're not taking into account, OP, is how much medical malpractice insurance is going to cost you. You're going to pay between $15,000 and $60,000 (and in many states and specialties, even more...) per year straight out of the gate.

Not to mention, physicians will spend a lot longer not earning a full salary (residency, fellowship) after finishing medical school, plus consider, if you're in charge of a family, rotations will have you going through new sites every 6 weeks (+/- 2 weeks), which could be quite challenging.

So what do you guys think about this? Also, with the new health care reform, where do you see the physician's fate headed in terms of salary, workload, and lifestyle with the family?

Big black box. We won't know until closer to 2014, or maybe even later. No one will know, and speculating about it is dangerous.

The scopes of practice are different. Do whichever one fits you best. Shadow. Learn. Both Pharmacists and Physicians make excellent livings and THAT is not likely to change.

 

[delano2000]

Like someone said, live within your means. My mother supported my brother and I with an annual income of around 40-45k. We survived.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Like someone said, live within your means. My mother supported my brother and I with an annual income of around 40-45k. We survived.

OP obviously doesn't want to just survive, though. 😛

 

[Lone Kendoka]

A huge part of being a physician that you're not taking into account, OP, is how much medical malpractice insurance is going to cost you. You're going to pay between $15,000 and $60,000 (and in many states and specialties, even more...) per year straight out of the gate.

Oh wow, I've never thought about that. I had no idea it could be so expensive.

I'm not going into the health profession in pursuit of money, prestige, or reputation. I want to go into it for myself; for my own self-growth and self-fulfillment. I want to go into a profession saying that this will make me happy and am more than willing to wake up every morning to go to my job for the next 40+ years. To me, money isn't a dominating factor. I'm not a materialistic person. However, to an extent, money is still important and as I said before, I only consider money important to provide for the family.

Family is one of the most important priorities I have, and it seems like pharmacy is better able to accommodate spending quality time with them. I know that there are professions in medicine that allow you to spend time with your family while enabling you to be financially flexible (go figure why those jobs are the most competitive to get). But I don't want to come home from work everyday stressed and tired, only to lash out at my family for something that's not their fault.

If I were to specialize in medicine and decide a couple years later that I'm not happy with my job and wanted to switch to another job in the profession, would that mean I would have to go back for more schooling to attain the job I want? I mean if possible, I would like to find fulfillment in both inside and outside of work.

To me, it seems like transitioning jobs within pharmacy is practically seamless. However, that may not necessarily mean that I'll be able to find a job opening that accommodates what I want to do in life. And I know that I would have to be looking for work rather than the work finding me like what a physician would encounter. Is the issue of actually finding the job within pharmacy that accommodates your lifestyle changes that big? Will it be hard to find such a job whenever I feel like pursuing it?

 

[Lone Kendoka]

OP obviously doesn't want to just survive, though. 😛

Exactly! I want to live! We only have one life to live and I want my family and I to make the most of it.

I suppose that it's kinda like a clash between being able to financially provide for what your life and family desires, yet you won't always be there for them versus being able to spend quality time with your family and always being there for them, but being somewhat restrained from living a lifestyle that may be more enjoyable, yet more financially demanding.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Oh wow, I've never thought about that. I had no idea it could be so expensive.

And it doesn't end there. If you work at Sutter, for example, you actually have to pay for your own PA... And then if you enter into a partnership-type practice (e.g., not a big conglomerate) then you'll be responsible for shares of rent, other staffing, etc. It's a HUGE money sink.

I'm not going into the health profession in pursuit of money, prestige, or reputation. I want to go into it for myself; for my own self-growth and self-fulfillment. I want to go into a profession saying that this will make me happy and am more than willing to wake up every morning to go to my job for the next 40+ years. To me, money isn't a dominating factor. I'm not a materialistic person. However, to an extent, money is still important and as I said before, I only consider money important to provide for the family.

By your standards, then, a pharmacist's salary is more than sufficient, as would be the prestige and responsibility associated with pharmacy. Sounds good...

Family is one of the most important priorities I have, and it seems like pharmacy is better able to accommodate spending quality time with them. I know that there are professions in medicine that allow you to spend time with your family while enabling you to be financially flexible (go figure why those jobs are the most competitive to get). But I don't want to come home from work everyday stressed and tired, only to lash out at my family for something that's not their fault.

There are a lot of specialties, particularly things like GP and Pediatrics, where you're getting time off, too. But definitely not during your "gear up" time - When you're still in residency and fellowship, you're burning 100 hour weeks easy, no matter your specialty. Not good for family, if you ask me...

If I were to specialize in medicine and decide a couple years later that I'm not happy with my job and wanted to switch to another job in the profession, would that mean I would have to go back for more schooling to attain the job I want? I mean if possible, I would like to find fulfillment in both inside and outside of work.

Specialties are, AFAIK, set in stone and depend a LOT on your scores on the USMLE Steps 1-3 as well as where you went to school, etc. Stress, stress, stress and then more of it. There's probably some laterla movement within a specialty (like one kind of surgery to another...) but going from Derm to Peds, again, AFAIK, is not possible.

To me, it seems like transitioning jobs within pharmacy is practically seamless. However, that may not necessarily mean that I'll be able to find a job opening that accommodates what I want to do in life. And I know that I would have to be looking for work rather than the work finding me like what a physician would encounter. Is the issue of actually finding the job within pharmacy that accommodates your lifestyle changes that big? Will it be hard to find such a job whenever I feel like pursuing it?

Very few jobs just find you. Not all physicians are courted and "recruited". Some are, true, but not all of them. Even MDs and DOs need to do some leg work to find jobs, especially good ones, and even moreso in a particular place. Just because an MD lives in S.F. and wants to work there does not necessarily mean s/he will be immediately granted the ability to do so...

I'm not personally worried about my own ability to find suitable employment after I graduate. I'm an active, ambitious, and desirable employee with lots of prior work experience and life experience. I also love networking, and am good at it. The more you sound like that, the more likely things are to come to you. Chance favors the prepared mind, and it's not what you know, but who you know. Words to ****in' live by, ITE.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Exactly! I want to live! We only have one life to live and I want my family and I to make the most of it.

I suppose that it's kinda like a clash between being able to financially provide for what your life and family desires, yet you won't always be there for them versus being able to spend quality time with your family and always being there for them, but being somewhat restrained from living a lifestyle that may be more enjoyable, yet more financially demanding.

Well, a pharmacist's salary will be far from meager... Even $90,000 in most places in the U.S. will make you live like a king. Not so much in super-desirable, high CoL coastal areas... but that's another discussion for another time.

IMO, trying to think like a family person (Which is hard for me because my wife and I are both very anti-starting a family) here... All the medical students and residents I know and work with work extremely long, laborious, tedious and grueling hours and are pretty much all single.They go out on dates with each other, because only a physician understands a physician's demands. At least vis-a-vis hospital work. Perhaps in a more relaxed, family practice, it wouldn't be this way - But you're also not making super hot $$$ in family practice.

Time is money.

 

[Lone Kendoka]

What about outsourcing issues? With technological advances, machines are bound to replace workers, which can lead to a greater layoff of pharmacists and more difficulty finding a job that is not already dominated by machine. I mean I know that we're not going to solely rely on machines. Humans are needed to oversee everything. But what is the extent of this?

 

[Passion4Sci]

What about outsourcing issues? With technological advances, machines are bound to replace workers, which can lead to a greater layoff of pharmacists and more difficulty finding a job that is not already dominated by machine. I mean I know that we're not going to solely rely on machines. Humans are needed to oversee everything. But what is the extent of this?

Without a crystal ball it's hard to say, but I mean, if more of the automated tasks go to technicians and "machines", then so be it. I'd rather have more patient contact and see more pharmacists walking the floors in hospitals than standing in drive-thrus asking if people would like fries with their statins.

 

[genesis09]

A trend with physicians especially with primary care ones is for them to become employees of a healthcare company. They get a set salary and don't have to worry about malpractice, billing, etc. They might make a little less but have a lot fewer headaches.

 

[Lone Kendoka]

A trend with physicians especially with primary care ones is for them to become employees of a healthcare company. They get a set salary and don't have to worry about malpractice, billing, etc. They might make a little less but have a lot fewer headaches.

I've never heard of this before. Could you explain a bit more or direct me to a place where I can find more information about this? How is this impacted/going to be impacted with the current health reform?

 

[UNMorBUST]

I've never heard of this before. Could you explain a bit more or direct me to a place where I can find more information about this? How is this impacted/going to be impacted with the current health reform?

The place where this started was Kaiser and the VA. You can start there.

 

[mcalabr3]

This is especially common in smaller urban areas. For example in Champaign and Urbana Illinois three health conglomerate provide healthcare... I do not know of any private physician in this town. by the way the two companies are called Provena and Carle and Christie Clinic.

 

[PharmFriendly]

Oh wow, I've never thought about that. I had no idea it could be so expensive.

I'm not going into the health profession in pursuit of money, prestige, or reputation. I want to go into it for myself; for my own self-growth and self-fulfillment. I want to go into a profession saying that this will make me happy and am more than willing to wake up every morning to go to my job for the next 40+ years. To me, money isn't a dominating factor. I'm not a materialistic person. However, to an extent, money is still important and as I said before, I only consider money important to provide for the family.

Family is one of the most important priorities I have, and it seems like pharmacy is better able to accommodate spending quality time with them. I know that there are professions in medicine that allow you to spend time with your family while enabling you to be financially flexible (go figure why those jobs are the most competitive to get). But I don't want to come home from work everyday stressed and tired, only to lash out at my family for something that's not their fault.

If I were to specialize in medicine and decide a couple years later that I'm not happy with my job and wanted to switch to another job in the profession, would that mean I would have to go back for more schooling to attain the job I want? I mean if possible, I would like to find fulfillment in both inside and outside of work.

This is my first post🙂 SDN is awesome.
👍 From what I'm able to tell you'll have a great personal statement when applying to whatever school you decide, so that's a plus. It seems like you're going into a health profession for similar reasons that I am. I'm starting college in the Fall and originally wanted to be an engineer but have now decided to go into pharmacy because of the feeling of integrity and altruism I get from imagining myself as a health professional and helping others.

I've already started looking into volunteering at both a pharmacy in a nursing home and at a tutoring center for underprivileged youth. I just hope I can balance it with schoolwork and all. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for a pre-pharmer such as myself?

 

[vancouvergeorge]

On the other hand, while a physician may be able to provide better for a growing family or changing lifestyle through his/her higher salary, he/she would have to work for long stressful hours, barely being able to spend quality time with the family. To me, it's important to spend such time with the children because it is essential to how they grow up and is something that money cannot provide for. In today's society, it seems that physicians have to work longer hours and even have to take their work home to be able to make the same amount they were making before.

Family time is overrated. Most of the people who work 9-5, when they return home, turn on the TV and sit there until they go to bed, with maybe an hour of family time during dinner (eating in silence or having the awkward Q&A).

When you have limited family time, you learn to appreciate the time you have, and do more interesting and memorable things. And kids remember the memorable things.

 

[MiataMike]

What I find humorous in this rather useless thread is the idea that a pharmacist's salary is fixed. 🙄

 

[koercive]

Industry pharmacists start at a lower base salary, but they have no glass ceiling.

If you work for someone, there will be disadvantages. Personally, I want to take the risk and go self-employed